Han Solo Won't Get a New Name in Next Star Wars Spin-Off

8 months ago

Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger made some interesting comments about the highly-anticipated Han Solo spin-off, revealing that fans will learn how Han meets his Wookie partner Chewbacca, and that it will follow Han between the years of 18 and 24. The Disney head also dropped quite a big bombshell that has had fans up in arms ever since, revealing that Han Solo isn’t actually this smuggler’s real name. Thankfully, during Star Wars Celebration this past week, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy said that Han Solo’s name will not change.

Ever since Bob Iger made this revelation in late March, some fans have theorized that this Han Solo movie will reveal his real name to be Han Ren, which would explain why his son Ben changed his name to Kylo Ren when he turned to the Dark Side before the events of The Force Awakens. This fan theory has yet to be confirmed, but MTV managed to catch up with LucasFilm President Kathleen Kennedy, who stated that she didn’t think Bob Iger meant Han Solo’s name will change in this movie, but she did tease there is more to his name.

“I’m not sure that that’s entirely what Bob meant. There’s more to Han Solo’s name, but it’s not that it’s not his name. It’s obviously his name. It will always be his name.”

Bob Iger also teased that this movie will show how Han Solo acquired a “certain vehicle,” i.e. the Millennium Falcon. Fans learned during the 1980 sequel Empire Strikes Back that Harrison Ford’s Han Solo won the ship off of his friend Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams, during a game of Sabaac, a popular card game. After Donald Glover was cast as the young Lando, many fans assumed that this game will in fact be played in this spin-off. There has also been speculation that fans could see the Kessell Run, which Han Solo mentions completing in less than 12 parsecs when he first meets Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) in A New Hope.

Another rumor surfaced last month that claimed this adventure will finally showcase Han Solo’s home planet of Corellia for the first time. While that report was never confirmed, many speculated that the production’s recent shift from the U.K.’s Pinewood Studios to the island of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, means that this new location will be used for Corellia scenes. The story has been confirmed to be set 10 years before A New Hope, and there have also been rumors that this story may introduce Han Solo’s first wife, Sana Solo, but that has yet to be confirmed.

A report from last July claimed that Disney is actually planning a three-part Han Solo trilogy, but that has yet to be confirmed either. Alden Ehrenreich stars as the title character with Donald Glover playing Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson playing Han’s mentor Garris Shrike, Joonas Suotamo playing Chewbacca and Emilia Clarke, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Thandie Newton and Ian Kenny playing unspecified characters. Take a look at this video interview with Kathleen Kennedy discussing the highly-anticipated Han Solo: A Star Wars Story